Cook and Carpenter described the Mohawks' response upon learning that dangerous levels of PCBs were in mothers' milk and were caused by fish consumption, which scientists said must end.

Both in legend and ceremony, Mohawks celebrate their relation­ship to the fish of their rivers, Cook said, and now they were being told the solution to their health problems was to not eat the fish. "This was no solution," she said. "This was the last straw for the Indian people."

To Mohawks, Cook said, "our society and culture is the envi­ronment. It was as if we can't even trust the natural world any­more."

Chemical fumes and fears of contamination in and near her home first brought Cook to the university in the early 1980s to seek information. From then on, she began to promote what she calls "sustainable science" that keeps health knowledge in the community even if research projects end. By involving the community, usually women, in designing health surveys and conducting field research, Cook said Mohawks are learning to un­derstand problems and reach so­lutions. "They are the ones who are the most motivated and have the biggest stake in knowing what the truth is. Grants may dry up, but the knowledge will stay with us."

To start, Cook said, commu­nity members had to recognize that toxic chemicals are real. To help do this, she brings contami­nated soil and water and molecu­lar models of PCB and dioxin to Mohawk ceremonies. There, she has people pass around the mod­els. "They pray for the Earth," she said. At the ceremonies people get sick. "One man said, 'I just want to drink the water because I know my body would clean it.' "

Cook has also brought PCB-related health problems to the attention of health service provid­ers on the reservation, as well as to traditional Mohawk healers, to whom many Mohawks turn. "We sent the community medical pro­viders to toxicological confer­ences, and our knowledge base has skyrocketed," she said. "They're excited now and are looking at past charts and won­

dering if earlier illnesses were re­lated to environmental problems.

"Today, we are seeing in­creased rates of diseases with roots in immune and reproduc­tive systems and neuro-behav-ioral developments. We see diabe­tes in teenagers that we used to see only in grandparents and chronic liver problems in people with no history of alcohol use," said Cook.

Although much of the earlier work on PCB levels in breast milk has been completed and fish con­sumption has declined, the legacy of PCB contamination remains.

Carpenter is now in the early phases of two new studies: one focusing on children and looking at PCB blood levels and physical and mental growth and develop­ment rates, and the other exam­ining adults' PCB blood levels and possible correlation to a variety of diseases, including mental illness.

Animal studies and a few hu­man studies have shown that PCBs can influence the brain in many ways, Carpenter said, in particular by suppressing the neurotransmitter dopamine, which leads to depression. PCBs also can lower intelligence and impair thyroid functions, result­ing in less physical and cognitive growth. His study will further ex­plore the relationship between PCB exposure and these effects, particularly looking at the effect of PCBs and its breakdown prod­uct compounds on the brain.

Meanwhile, over the next three years Cook plans to hold more workshops to train traditional health practitioners and medical clinicians, produce radio pro­grams on health, conduct a sur­vey on health needs, and gauge the success of the overall pro­gram.

The Mohawks are not "anti-expert," stressed Cook. "We are just tired of an epistemology that is not ours." —JEFF JOHNSON

Mohawk midwife and clinical instructor Katsi Cook (right) with mother and child in PCB breast milk study.

Environmental justice grants "level the playing field" Over the past few years, the federal government has created a wide range of environmental justice grant programs. In 1995, EPA offered 174 small technica assistance grants to churches, schools, community organizations, and tribal governments. Now in its third year, grants are $20,000 or less and are directec to educational programs and to provide technical assistance to help "level the playing field" when community organizations deal with regulators and indus­tries, EPA officials said.

Other EPA environmental justice grants include seven for universities to provide assistance to community groups. About $300,000 each, the one-year grant program began last year {ES&T, Nov. 1995, 491A). The Agency also has several programs to help communities near Superfund sites, as does the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

ATSDR also began the Mississippi Delta Project three years ago with an environmental health needs assessment for 216 counties in a seven-state re­gion bordering the Mississippi River from Illinois to Louisiana. In early Janu­ary, the assessment will be complete, and in late 1996, the program will ini­tiate several demonstration projects to address environmental health needs.

Depending on the results of the demonstrations, ATSDR will began long-term health and environmental outreach programs in 1997. Although directed by ATSDR, the project involves a large number of universities; local health departments; community groups; and federal agencies, including EPA, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control. —JEFF JOHNSON

VOL.30, NO. 1, 1996/ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 2 1 A